University of Guelph-Humber

A young student co-founding a successful snack business while still in his teens? It might sound crazy, but there’s nothing nutty about Joseph’s Nutless Clusters.

Three years ago, University of Guelph-Humber business student Joseph Genovese and longtime family friend Anthony Bartolomeo started a gluten-free retail company buying and selling mostly frozen goods, but they soon found that potential customers really preferred fresh goods. So, in December 2013, when Genovese was only 16, they opened a bakery in Woodbridge and began cooking up a variety of treats.

But one recipe above all the others seemed to be winning over peckish snackers, and Joseph’s Nutless Clusters were soon born.

“We stuck with nutless clusters because it seemed to be the best-seller and it was different,” said Genovese, now 19, who’s in his second year at the University of Guelph-Humber. “No one knew what it was. Search it on Google and there’s nothing there.”

Well, of course, that’s no longer true. Now, Joseph’s Nutless Clusters are sold in Metro, Longo’s, Fortinos, Loblaws, 7-Eleven and Costco locations across the country, and the celiac-friendly snack food is even available in Mexico, Dubai, Nigeria and parts of the United States.

Further expansion into the U.S. and more online business are goals for the company, which has scored endorsements from Toronto FC midfielder Jonathan Osorio and Canadian soccer star Adriana Leon. Amazon only recently started selling the product, and already Joseph’s Nutless Clusters are the top search result for “gluten-free snacks.”

The clusters are also non-GMO, whole grain, of course nut-free, and in the chocolate variety, vegan. The three main ingredients are brown rice crisps, dates and organic cane sugar.

Genovese is extremely familiar with that formula, since he and Bartolomeo personally make and package the snack at their bakery. That amounts to about 32 hours of work per week for Genovese, who also has spent time staging demos at stores around the Greater Toronto Area.

As a full-time student, it’s a challenge to maintain what is essentially a full-time job, but fortunately Genovese has found that his business and his studies intertwine in a mutually beneficial way.

“Some of the things I’ve learned in class, I’ll try to develop or put them toward the work,” said Genovese, who successfully adopted the strategy of placing Joseph’s Nutless Clusters near the register after hearing about it in a class presentation.

“But work also helps with school. If I’m in a test thinking about supply and demand, I’m thinking nutless clusters. It’s been hard, but it definitely has its privileges.”

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